The Solar and Battery Storage Sales Challenge
The UK's solar and battery storage market has exploded. Homeowners are increasingly combining solar panels with battery storage systems to maximise their energy independence and reduce bills. For installers, this means higher average order values — but also more complex sales cycles.
A typical solar-plus-battery enquiry might take 4-8 weeks from initial contact to signed contract. During that time, if your follow-up slips even once, the customer has already moved on to a competitor who responded faster.
Why Leads Go Cold
We've worked with dozens of home improvement companies over 20 years, and the reasons leads go cold are always the same:
- Slow initial response — taking days instead of hours to make first contact
- No systematic follow-up — relying on reps to remember who needs calling back
- Lost information — survey details on scraps of paper, quotes in email threads nobody can find
- No accountability — nobody knows a lead has been neglected until the customer complains or buys elsewhere
Building a Lead Management Process That Works
Stage 1: Capture and Qualify
Every enquiry — web form, phone call, promoter-generated — enters your CRM immediately with the source tagged. Basic qualification happens at this point: is the property suitable? Is the homeowner the decision-maker? Is there budget?
Stage 2: Speed to Contact
Your target should be making first contact within 2 hours of receiving a lead. Your CRM should highlight leads that haven't been contacted yet and escalate ones that are ageing.
Stage 3: Survey Booking
Once qualified, book the technical survey. Solar surveys are more complex than standard window measurements — roof assessment, shading analysis, electrical capacity. Your diary system needs to account for survey duration and travel time.
Stage 4: Proposal and Follow-Up
After the survey, your rep creates a detailed proposal. The CRM should track when proposals are sent and automatically schedule follow-up tasks. A proposal that isn't followed up within 48 hours has a dramatically lower close rate.
Stage 5: Decision Support
Battery storage is still unfamiliar territory for many homeowners. They need reassurance — case studies, savings calculations, warranty information. Your CRM should prompt reps to share these materials at the right stage.
Stage 6: Contract and Scheduling
Once the customer says yes, the handover to installation needs to be seamless. All survey data, product specifications, and customer preferences should be accessible to your installation team without re-entering anything.
Tracking What Matters
For solar and battery storage companies, these are the metrics that drive growth:
- Lead-to-survey conversion rate — are you booking enough surveys from your enquiries?
- Survey-to-sale conversion rate — are your reps closing when they're in front of customers?
- Average days in pipeline — how long is your sales cycle, and is it getting shorter?
- Revenue by lead source — which channels are worth investing in?
- Rep performance — who converts best, and who needs coaching?
The Competitive Advantage
In a market where homeowners often request 3-4 quotes, the company that follows up first, follows up consistently, and makes the process feel effortless is the one that wins. Your CRM is the engine that makes this happen.